Sophie Rockwell

Following the Saturday night of the Spring Formal, Greg was blissfully unaware of Jack, and Jack didn’t care about Greg. He was probably relieved, because to him, we were not, and were never going to be, serious. It wouldn’t take long into summer for me to realize that, though.

The summer before senior year of College, I was working at an internship downtown Indianapolis, which was about an hour from our college campus, so I was driving back and forth between college and the city. Jack’s parents lived in the city and he was going back and forth between college and his parents house, so we would often get together in both places. We even bought tickets to a concert at a nearby venue. 

Greg was doing an internship with the college that summer and we would make time to see each other when I was back on campus. Like most colleges, in the summer campus was very quiet and most of our friends were not around. This made it easy for us to make time to see each other and hang out. 

One evening I was hanging out at Greg’s fraternity house with a few other people who were still in town. When suddenly, Jack showed up. – Two of Jack’s good friends were in the fraternity, so he was around a lot. He was around so much that he had started to act like he was in the fraternity without ever rushing or paying dues and this made a lot of the brothers not like him. – I was caught off guard when Jack walked through the door, but after about a month of juggling both guys, I had more confidence than the last run in. Maybe more confidence than I should have had. 

As the night got later and people left to go home, Jack asked if I needed a ride home. I lived within walking distance, but a storm was approaching, so it seemed like a realistic offer to accept. Greg asked if I wanted to stay, but I knew where that would lead and I was hesitant to take things to that point with him. So, Jack and I headed to his car and as we walked, I heard something behind me swish through the air, then a clink, clink clink clink as it landed on the ground. I looked behind me and saw a beer can on the ground. I quickly looked up to the second floor and saw Greg was standing in the open window staring down at us. “Did he just throw a beer can at us?” Jack asked. “I’m not sure.” I replied. But I was sure, I knew exactly what was going through Greg’s mind as he stared down at us. He had told me the whole back story with Jack and the fraternity and I knew Greg didn’t like him. I also realized at that moment that Greg knew there was something going on with Jack and I and that I hadn’t been as secretive as I thought I was. My body filled with regret. My inner voice was telling me to stay and not go with Jack, but I didn’t listen and continued on. Jack and I made it to his apartment and we hung out until the storm passed and then I walked the rest of the way home, by myself. That was how it was with Jack. He would do something nice for you as long as it was convenient for him. 

A few weeks later while in the city another huge storm came through and caused flash flooding in the streets. I was at dinner with a friend and almost didn’t make it back to my apartment. Every street I turned on had standing water, so I would take another turn to find a less flooded street. At one point, I crept along slowly just hoping I wouldn’t start to see water come through the door. I made it back to my apartment only to find the power was out. All the horror movies I had watched flashed in my brain. Terrified, I ran to my bed and called Jack. I just needed to talk to someone to help take away some of the fear. Jack answered the phone with a groggy, half asleep voice and I began to tell him about my eventful night. He simply replied: “I can leave my house right now, so I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do.” My jaw dropped. Like the lightening in the storms outside, a flash of light made everything so clear and I realized he did not care about me one bit. “I wasn’t expecting you to come over here. I was just calling to have someone to talk to. Never mind” I sighed. At that moment, I knew I was done with Jack. I could never be with someone who didn’t understand the sheer terror of being home alone with no power in the middle of a massive thunderstorm. 

I decided to give Greg a call next. I was still scared after all. Greg answered and I could hear the happiness in his voice. He listened to my story and told me how he wished he could be there with me so I wouldn’t feel scared. A smile so big it could have been seen from the other side of my pitch black room came across my face. This was the response I was looking for. This was the response I needed. He stayed on the phone with me and we talked until my power came back on. I thanked him for keeping me company and taking my mind off the storm and we made plans to get together the next time I was in town. I think I fell asleep that night with a smile still plastered on my face.